In latest Ripon Forum, Roy Blunt examines the importance of U.S. leadership in medical breakthroughsWASHINGTON, DC — At a time when spending in just about every area of the federal government is coming under intense scrutiny and review, the latest edition of The Ripon Forum examines the importance of investing in health research and why is it critical that the United States remain a global leader in that regard. “When a country is first in health research, the people of that country benefit the most, but the economic opportunity of being first is also significant. “The United States should never be dependent on the Chinese Communist Party for antibiotics and essential medicines,” Carter writes in an essay. And in the latest Ripon Profile, North Carolina Congressman Greg Murphy discusses his career as a doctor and how that has shaped his service in the House. The Ripon Forum is published six times a year by The Ripon Society, a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin.